Incollect Magazine - Issue 4

Incollect Magazine 117 2023 There is also a good price-to-value ratio in this area of the market for everyday people looking to decorate homes with beautiful things. “A lot of people can’t afford high-end design by artisans who were making one-of-a-kind art pieces for homes, something that you begin to see a lot more of in the later periods of American design,” says Evan Lobel of Lobel Modern in New York. “The price point on American Modernist material can be favorable and you are buying a historical piece that is also beautifully made.” Today, the pioneer designers that built a unique American modern design aesthetic are in most cases no longer household names, but their vision transformed American life completely. No other generation of designers before or since can make such a claim. Initially, they met resistance and prejudice. American tastes remained immutably conservative well into the 20th century, especially in the design field where traditional Early American dark wooden furniture dominated decorating schemes. The taste situation was so dire that in 1925 the United States was invited to organize a presentation of national craftsmen and manufacturers for the prestigious Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. The French had one clear stipulation — all participants must demonstrate “new inspiration and originality” and be reflective of “the modern decorative and industrial arts.” After Original 1930 Monumental Skyscraper Vanity by Paul T. Frankl. This skyscraper vanity retains its brilliant untouched original lacquer, original stainless steel trim, original nickel plated brass pulls and “SKYSCRAPER FURNITURE Frankl Galleries” metal tag on the verso. With few floor model exceptions, these early Frankl studio pieces were custom made to order and are extremely rare. Only his early pieces bear the Frankl Galleries metal tag. Image courtesy of TFTM.